Le Cellier Saint-Jacques
49 Saint-Jacques St., Gatineau (Hull sector), 819-205-4200, restaurantlecellier.com
Open: Monday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.,
Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., closed Sunday
Prices: appetizers $7 to $13, mains $22 to $39, sharing platters $55 to $72
Access: Wheelchair ramp to front door, dining rooms and washrooms on two floors
It was a few nights before Christmas, and a few of us were getting a jump on our overdoing-it dining.
The venue was Le Cellier Saint-Jacques in Gatineau’s Hull sector, opened in the fall of 2013 in the venerable old house that was Café Jean-Sébastien Bar, a well-liked and affordable Bach-themed bistro, in the 1990s and 2000s.
Le Cellier, which can be more of a splurge, was doing good business with folks who were visibly celebrating during my late December dinner and early January lunch.
One draw is the restaurant’s wine list of 100 or so bottles. It’s admirably diverse and interesting, even as it emphasizes European and especially French bottles over New World offerings, as well as reds over whites. Another plus is the cosiness and comfort of Le Cellier’s multiple dining rooms where leather chairs, oversized banquettes and black tablecloths set the tone.
Finally, there’s a protein-forward menu that unites bistro fare with haute cuisine flourishes to wave the flag for dining out as classic indulgence. There’s filet mignon topped with foie gras, quail stuffed with foie gras, and foie gras “candies” as a starter. Need I say more? How about veal chops, various tartares, oysters, and butter-poached lobster tail?
In addition to the menu’s French flair, there are Portuguese accents such as chorizo, pili pili chicken and pastel de nata tarts for dessert. Much of the food is available in platters to be shared convivially, which is a nice touch that strikes me as more natural than the small-plates approach.
We’ve appreciated Le Cellier’s mission, and enough of its dishes to have a positive impression of the place. But there were instances where finesse and attention to detail were lacking, and a few execution flops too.
That night in December began promisingly with a platter of seafood appetizers ($24). Salt cod fritters had good flavour and weren’t greasy, sautéed shrimps were plump, moist and succulent, two small Malpeque oysters had a briny pop, and nicely chopped and salted tuna tartare was good, if not great. For that, more acid and imagination would have been needed.
Less refined was the duck confit poutine ($10), a sludgy mess, better suited for hardcore poutine lovers than duck confit fans.
Duck confit mini-poutine at Le Cellier
The kitchen stumbled with two steaks. Filet mignon Rossini ($40), a hit from 19th century haute cuisine that mounts quivering seared foie gras on a slab of tenderloin, got everything right except the doneness of the beef. Ordered medium rare, the filet was unforgivably almost well done. Meanwhile, a bison flank steak ($24), also ordered medium rare, was a too-rare chew. Both were sent back to the kitchen and, fortunately, second tries were much improved.
Filet Mignon Rossini at Le Cellier
Bison flank steak at Le Cellier
The night’s award for best meat went to the sizeable veal chop that starred in the Portuguese platter for two ($55) and teemed with deep, gnawable flavour. Sautéed shrimps and scallops and grilled chorizo played good supporting roles, but the piri-piri chicken, which sat in a lightly piquant broth with the seafood and might as well have been braised, had little of the brightness and none of the grilled goodness that I expected. Fries were run-of-the-mill.
Portuguese platter at Le Cellier
For dessert, pastel de nata egg tarts ($6), served on a slick of dulce de leche, struck us as oddly flat, more homespun than bake shop, lacking in custard and caramelization.
Pastel de nata tarts at Le Cellier
At lunch, more of the food was closer to the mark. There was a fine spinach soup of the day ($5). Three of us split the “L’indécise” platter for two ($55), on which nearly everything satisfied nicely, including a massive, yielding, and not-too-salty confit duck leg, four small but tasty lamb chops, truffle-oiled arugula salad, assorted vegetables, roast potatoes and demi-glace galore.
Duck confit, quail stuffed with foie gras- lamb rack for two at Le Cellier
The platter’s disappointment was its quail stuffed with foie gras. Optimally, that component would be more refined, with the little bird broken down and a delight of molten foie enhancing the breast meat. But what we received was a more brusquely cooked whole quail, surrounding a less appealing foie stuffing with no ooze to it.
Dessert that time was a rich and straightforward chocolate terrine studded with pistachios ($5). For one of us, it was the meal’s star.
Chocolate Terrine at Le Cellier
Le Cellier provided some high points, some low points and some in-betweens. It had friendly, bilingual service in its favour, and some measure of luxurious eating at less-than-luxe prices, if not the stops-out dazzle of the real thing.
phum@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/peterhum
ottawacitizen.com/tags/dining-out
